The devotion for April 2011 was given by the Committee on Indigenous Judicial Issues of the Lutheran Church of Costa Rica, a space dedicated to the struggles of the indigenous reserve of Terraba against the construction plans of the hydroelectric dam, El Diquis.
Nombre de autor: Comunicación y Relaciones
The legal assistant of the Indigenous Program, Oscar Retana commented that:
“This is a potential threat to the indigenous people of Terraba. Work is being done and heavy machinery is being used without the consent of the indigenous inhabitants of the community. These actions are illegal and violate the human rights of indigenous people.”
The indigenous program of the Costa Rican Lutheran Church has been one of the organizations that remains in strong support for the demands of the indigenous people, as is the case in the region of Diquis Terraba.
The worship time was devoted to an exchange of opinions and viewpoints and, therefore, to a meditation on this situation that causes suffering for the indigenous people of Terraba.
Oscar Retana emphasizes that:
"Despite that the official representative body of the indigenous community (Térraba ADI) has submitted a complaint against ICE, seeking to receive a financial compensation. However, this groupy is not the traditional body representative and imposed by the State without complying with the community organization, which has led to irregular and arbitrary behaviors, without considering the decisions made by the people as a whole. Instead, the decisions follow the interest of the members of the current representative board".
There is no doubt that this violation is based on a history of discrimination and invisibility that has characterized the life of indigenous people within a Costa Rican system which refuses to believe that we live in an intercultural reality.
But the worst is that it shows the Costa Rican government refuses to create laws that enforce the international Covenants on Human Rights that we ratified by our country long ago.
Translation by:
Denae Van Westrienen